Emotiva


I've had a Sony ES series 5 channel home theater receiver since 1997 and have absolutely loved it but am thinking its days are numbered even though I've not heard any problems with it as yet. I'm thinking that, if this receiver does bite the dust soon (or if new gear fever gets the better of me...lol) I might go with an Emotiva set up -- The UPA-700 7 ch amp and UMC-200 7.1 ch preamp. Both my budget and listening space are on the small side, I listen to music/watch movies at moderate volumes for the most part but sometimes like to crank it up to loud, but not ear splitting, levels. Music listening would be 70% of this system's use and I listen to just about everything with an emphasis on 50s thru 80s pop/rock....not a lot of listening to classical, opera, bluegrass, or rap. I've loved the "sound fields" on my ES receiver and want the same type of "stadium"/"large hall"/"small club" thing with my next system. My source equipment consists of: A Music Hall MMF-5 turntable (will probably go with the Music Hall phono preamp), an Apple TV, and I plan to purchase an Oppo BDP-103 to replace a limping 80s vintage Denon CD player and double as DVD player. My speakers are: JBL L65s up front and Advent (model unknown...bought new in early 90s) in the back. My TV is a Sharp Aquos 52" flat screen from the early 2000s.....it's not plasma but the other one they made back then. Question....In my situation, would you replace the aging Sony ES receiver with these Emotiva components or get another Sony ES HT Receiver? Would you go with another option entirely? Thanks.
lg1
By the Emotiva Power Amp. It blows away anything near its price. You cut out the middle man
I would concur, thats a great deal on the Denon.. i have listened to many components over the years and any of the Denon's Yamaha's, Marantzs, and even Onkyo's will probably gibve you better sound quality thatn some of t he lower end emotiva's... the higher end emotiva's sound a little better .. I have heard the XPA serises.. and honestly.. it wasnt' bad just sounded one-dimensional, if that makes any sense.. my wife heard it too... so you can get any of those like the Denon X4000 and add an nicer outboard amp later on .. I would recommend staying away from the emotiva , if you care about sound quality IMO.........thats just my .02.....
I would not get a current Sony product. As for the rest, it depends on your budget, the UPA-700 is not a strong amp, the amp section in the old Sony can probably hit more wpc than the little 700.

If it was me I'd consider the Denon X4000, which is being cleared out for 800 or so. It has the top of the line Audyssey room correction and will simply blow you away, no amp needed. That's unbeatable in a receiver today at that price.
I would definitely go with the Emotiva components. The UMC-200 is a very good prepro for the money and the UPA-700 should do quite well in your environment. The Emo stuff has a longer warranty than Sony.

And I used to own the L-65 Jubals. Those were some of the finest speakers I've ever had and they held their value incredibly well.

-RW-